A Handful of Grain

The Pharisees, experts in the Law, were at it again. Jesus and his disciples were found guilty of breaking the Sabbath law because they were hungry and picked some heads of grain to eat. Talk about nitpicking! In the eyes of the Pharisees the disciples had harvested and thrashed the grain and were therefore clearly in the wrong and should be punished as lawbreakers. What the Pharisees wouldn’t do to condemn Jesus.

Jesus answered their charge by reminding them that God did not condemn David when he and his companions ate consecrated bread in the temple, nor did God accuse the priests of breaking the Sabbath law when they performed their assigned duties working at the temple each Sabbath day. Then Jesus hits them, and us, where it really counts.

If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent.
Matthew 12:7 (NIV)

God is more concerned with the attitude of our heart than the fulfillment of religious duty. The Pharisees believed they were doing all the right things to honor God, but God saw the condition of their hearts, and their hearts just weren’t in it. They were doing what they thought was right, but it was for all the wrong reasons. When your heart is right with God you aren’t bound up in legalism.

With a heart of mercy the Pharisees would have known that the Sabbath law did not apply. Why would this law be set aside? First, the natural law of necessity would allow you to eat on the Sabbath. God did not restrict you from eating. Second, other laws would take precedence over the Sabbath law. For instance the law also requires that you love your neighbor as yourself. Having a heart of love for God and man is more important than whether you pick a handful of grain on the Sabbath. And above all, laws are subject to the Lawgiver. What really upset the Pharisees was that Jesus claimed to be the Lawgiver, to be God. When the Lawgiver gives permission no law is broken.

How about us? Are we guilty of being like the Pharisees? Do we make mountains out of molehills condemning those God sees as innocent? Do we withhold mercy and break God’s higher law of love? Let God cleanse your heart of prejudice and pride that blinds us to seeing others through His eyes.